Editor’s Note: This continues the series of season reviews for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs drivers.
Driver: Chase Elliott
Car: No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Crew chief: Alan Gustafson
Final 2021 ranking: 4th
Key stats: 2 wins, 15 top fives, 21 top 10s, 952 laps led
How 2021 ended:
The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion advanced to his second consecutive Championship 4, hoping to become the first back-to-back champion since his former Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, won five consecutive titles from 2006-10. Elliott went into the season finale at Phoenix Raceway ranked first among the four title contenders but finished fifth in the race after leading 94 laps. All three of his championship rivals finished ahead, leaving the 2020 champion in fourth place in the final standings.
Best races:
Elliott added race wins 12 and 13 to his career total with victories at the two new road courses on the 2021 schedule – Circuit of The Americas and Road America. His triumph at Road America is perhaps the best feat of the two, claiming the checkered flag after starting in 34th position.
Other season highlights:
Elliott led laps in 22 of the 36 races. Ironically, the two places where he led the most laps on the season – 129 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway and 289 laps at Martinsville Speedway – did not produce trophies. He finished 25th at Bristol and 16th at Martinsville. His 952 laps led was the second highest single-season tally in his six-year NASCAR Cup Series career. And both his 8.1 average start and 11.4 average finish are career bests. His 15 top fives ties last year’s career high, and his 21 top-10 efforts is one off his career best in 2020.
RELATED: Chase Elliott through the years
Stats to know:
Not only did Elliott win multiple races for the fourth consecutive season, he also tallied a career single-season high seven runner-up finishes – starting with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, then the spring Martinsville race, followed by back-to-back races at Sonoma Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, later adding Watkins Glen International, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway playoff opener and finally adding the Kansas Speedway playoff race to his season total.
Quotable:
“As far as Kevin [Harvick] goes, just wanna wish them a merry offseason and a happy Christmas.” – Elliott after Harvick was eliminated from the playoffs in the second round and Elliott advanced to the Championship 4
Looking ahead:
Elliott may only be 26 years old, but his immediate success in NASCAR’s highest ranks – hoisting a championship trophy at the age of 24 – raises the expectations going forward. This season he maintained his high level of top-five and top-10 finishes and again won multiple races. He made his second consecutive Championship 4 appearance and was widely considered Kyle Larson’s chief challenger for the trophy. Still approaching the prime of this career, it’s reasonable to expect Elliott will be a multi-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, it’s just a matter of being able to continually raise the bar he has already set so high. With the introduction of the Next Gen cars in 2022, Elliott’s current success could be the winning difference in a season of so much transition.